Hmmm. That’s too bad, but I can say that I’ve exceeded EPA ratings with my autos and manuals. My previous car (an automatic) averaged 27 MPG in town and about 31 on the highway. EPA ratings when new for were like 23/29 or something like that. And I didn’t baby it.

Your recommendation for manual transmissions actually applies to automatics too – if you drive too much like granny, you won’t necessarily improve your mileage. There’s a fine balance between driving (and accelerating) too slow and too fast.

I’ve broken EPA highway on all my MT cars. You can bet that I wasn’t even close though during my first month of driving an MT car. I was actually considering going back to auto for a while. Now, I’ll never go back. So you need to hone your skills if you want to be a smooth and efficient operator of the manual transmission. Once you do, it’s as good as masturbation. Well, almost.

Here’s a fuel saving tip for people who drive MT. Use full throttle when you can; it’s more efficient when you’re not choking it for air. Some ECUs may richen it up though at 100%, so it may be more efficient at 90% or so.

I spent my first seven years of driving with a stick-shift. It was a blast, and I recall saying things like “I won’t own an automatic until I need my hip replaced…” when I was in high school. Once I grew up and got a job, complete with a hectic commute, things changed. Suddenly the fun of flicking through the gears had changed into unbelievably long periods of time spent in rush-hour, never-go-faster-than-15MPH traffic.

It was at this point that I decided that I needed my commuter to be an automatic. Although at the time I used to think that an automatic transmission sucked all the fun out of driving, I’ve now learned that I enjoy different aspects of driving just as much. When I hit my mid-life crisis and need a little Miata or S2000 to cheer myself up, however, I’ll definitely enjoy shifting my own gears on a weekend drive through some twisty blacktop.

But yes, as someone else already mentioned, this author should have campaigned against the urban-SUV instead of the automatic transmission. It’s hardly the efficiency killer that it used to be, and is exactly the opposite in many newer models.

The problem w/using EPA tranny stats is that the A/T numbers are reproducible by all users, as the shifts are electronically controlled, while manual numbers aren’t because the EPA uses professional drivers. I’m sorry, but I don’t think GTIBoyRacerGuy who learned to drive a stick in a Kmart parking lot has fuel maximization skills in check.

The A/T numbers are no more reproducible than the M/T numbers when the driver only knows how to get from red light to red light as quickly as possible. I think there is just as high of a percentage of A/T drivers as M/T drivers who don’t know how to or don’t care to drive for efficiency.

I’m an M/T driver who averages well above the EPA highway rating, but Slate is definitely out to lunch on this subject.

I drive a manual transmission because it makes the high-RPM range so much more accessible to me. If I were falling asleep in an automatic I’d probably drive much more calmly and save lots of gas.

As a previous reader pointed out, Slate’s Brendan I. Koerner is stuck in the ’70. Perhaps he wrote this ignorant drivel in the throes of a flashback. Most new automatic transmissions outlast the engines they are mated to. Many are good for half a million miles. They certainly require less maintenance than the DIY variety. People simply aren’t swapping old for new cars every third year because of transmission problems.

I figure that Honda doesn’t trust people to downshift a manual if the revs get too low, so they won’t put a tall 5th gear on the car.

As a side note, I recently switched from 195/55/16 tires to 205/40/17 tires (with new wheels), and I’ve noticed a big drop in fuel efficiency. I used to get 650 to 700 km per tank, now I’m lucky to get 600. Driving habits and car maintenance seem to play a bigger role than transmission selection.

Yeah, I’m trying to learn that now. I just bought my first automatic ever, and my first DBW car. After about a month of fussing and experimenting, if finally discovered that the car works best when I just leave it in D and slam the go pedal to the ground when the light turns green. The computer does the rest. Sad but true.

For me, I like the control that the clutch provides, but if I had to deal with bumper-bumper traffic all the time, I’d probably opt for a DSG.

In-town mileage depends wildly on driving style and transmission programming. The last time I had to rent a car, for example, I ended up with a Hyundai Elantra. Despite its modest (2.0L) engine, it got dreadful in-town mileage, worse by more than 10% than my 2.3L Mazda. The problem was that its shift schedule was set up so that it would rush into top gear as quickly as possible (which would be good for fuel economy, except) and then downshift one or two gears at the slightest provocation for more power and stay there until you lifted the throttle. Downshifts were very smooth — in a manner indicative of a lot of slushiness in the converter and clutch engagements — and if I wasn’t watching the tach it would consistently be one gear too low, buzzing along at more than 3,000 rpm. I had to be very cautious about feather-footing the throttle to stay in an appropriate gear.

It was an excellent reminder of the principle that just because somebody does something for you doesn’t mean they do it well.

Of course, fun is a different matter. The holy grail is to switch back and forth depending on need. VW’s DSG answers the call, but I’ll hold off on being an early adopter given VW’s reliability history. If the rumors of a DSG-style tranny in the next TSX are true, I’ll trade in my slushbox-equipped model when the loan is up.

Besides how can you shift while you are drinking a latte and talking on the phone.

I got the feeling she was doing more bad than good.

Anyways, as was mentioned, it really all comes down to how you drive. I suspect an automatic gearbox is more efficient for more people more of the time, but I also suspect a capable and concentrating frugal driver could easily do better with a manual gearbox.

I see that Mr. Koerner has never received a quote on the labor charge to just remove and reinstall ANY transmission in a FWD vehicle. Once he does he’ll understand why most places don’t repair automatic transaxles anymore and prefer to just swap them with reman’d units.

And as long as I have to slog my way through stop-n-go traffic five days a week I’ll happily spend that supposed 15% in extra gas to avoid the hassle of farting with a clutch.

Of course, I have fallen in love with the sound of my turbo spooling up, so I tend not to be light of foot. Actually, on this last tank, I got about 300 miles out. Not bad based on how I like to drive.

Harldy surprising though, in my experience the mass media rarely if ever get technical issues right.